Commission welcomes new European Board for Media Services

The new European Board for Media Services (the Media Board) held its constitutive meeting yesterday, marking a milestone in the implementation of the European Media Freedom Act.

The Media Board is an independent advisory body at Union level established by EMFA, consisting of representatives of the national media regulators, who will replace and continue the work of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services. As such, the Board will promote the consistent implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive while providing expertise and assistance on media regulation to the Commission.

Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen (pictured) said: “I welcome the new Media Board and look forward to our cooperation on media regulation matters, while effectively implementing the landmark European Media Freedom Act and ensuring that media in the EU – be it traditional or digital – is independent and pluralistic.”

Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michael McGrath said: “Today marks a vital step in the application of the European Media Freedom Act. We count on the essential work of the new Media Board to support the independent functioning of media providers, which is a pre-condition for the high-quality services Europeans deserve.”

The Media Board will have new tasks under the Media Freedom Act. It will provide opinions on national measures that could significantly affect the operation of media providers, on media market concentrations, and on common measures to protect the internal market from non-EU media providers that pose threats to public security, for example, when it comes to foreign information manipulation and interference. These new tasks will contribute to reducing barriers to the provision of media services across the EU, and to safeguarding media pluralism and independence in the internal market.

In addition, a media service provider can request the Media Board’s opinion on the outcome of the dialogue concerning repeated unjustified restrictions or suspension of the media provider’s content based on terms of service with Very Large Online Platforms designated under the Digital Services Act. The Media Board shall inform the Commission of its opinion.

During the meeting, the Media Board elected Carlos Aguilar Paredes as Chair and Amma Asante as Vice-Chair, from the Spanish and Dutch national media regulators, respectively.

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